About Me

I am a global citizen concerned with children and women's rights issues. Not just in the developing world, but also in western societies. As my own international divorce demonstrates, promoting human and civil rights as well as equality of women goes far beyond passage of constitutions, and progressive laws and international treaties. It lies in changing social norms and attitudes, and bringing accountability and transparency into government institutions, and judicial systems.
My children, children everywhere, friends, animals, sports, and writing To leave this world just a little bit better than I found it Surviving, Travelling, Literature, Sociology, Anthopology, Psychology, Economics, Intl Marketing, and lately Human/Children's Rights issues

..."The factors which prevent women from filing complaints for domestic abuse are varied. When an aggressor is the partner or ex-partner, the capacity and ability of the women to defend herself against the violence is all the more impaired. The continual insistence of officials that it is women who “must” denounce said violence so that they might be protected and receive support, shows to what extent officials do not understand the dynamics of the situation. As well as being ignorant to the problems created by deep-rooted discrimination….

Instead of justifying the inaction of institutions by contending that it is the “obligation” of the woman to denounce the violence, authorities should verify the effectiveness of the legal protection available and identify the obstacles that, in the law and its application, impede women from accessing and obtaining justice and protection.

Along these lines, the focus of attention should be the response of the State in relation to its obligations to respect and uphold the rights of the victims of domestic violence by providing them with effective remedies in order to obtain justice and protection under procedural guarantees that assure that they are not discriminated against.

The experience of the women who file complaints [and are systematically denied protection] can shed light on the response of the system and whether they correspond with international norms that obligate the Spanish State to exercise due diligence in the persecution of crimes, in the investigation of the facts, and the protection of those who have filed the complaints and who are at risk....

The documented cases represent serious lack of diligence by the administration of justice. All of these women and children have encountered judicial procedures that are not adapted to their necessities, with obstacles that prevent them from obtaining justice and have not facilitated the just resolution of their cases. The acquittal or absolution for lack of proof has had a serious impact on the lives of the victims and in the behaviour of the aggressor. Amnesty International want to call attention to:

--> Adverse impact in the process of recuperation for these women
--> Losing confidence and seeking protection from the justice system
--> MORE POWER FOR THE AGGRESSOR AND REPETITION OF ABUSE
--> CONSOLIDATION OF PROFESSIONAL MALPRACTICE (lack of effective mechanisms to assure accountability of professionals when they fail to comply with the duty to act with due diligence)"

By looking to the 'West', women of the 'East' may see the road and challenges that lay ahead of them. This road far from being paved in gold, is filled with pot-holes, booby-traps, and land-mines. It is time that women of the East and West re-examine the priorities and issues of the women's rights movement of the past. A movement that has all too often only see labor and reproductive rights of women as the solutions to her oppression and domination. Until and unless women can be assured security and safety within her home, she will continue to be a 'caged bird singing for her freedom' no matter how much financial wealth she obtains.